


Doubt

by politics_and_prose



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 03:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16400669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/politics_and_prose/pseuds/politics_and_prose
Summary: What if, instead of double-crossing her father, she was double-crossing them?  What if the bulls were waiting for them when they got there?





	Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> So this idea popped into my head and I knew I wouldn't be able to write anything else until I got it out. It's quick and could be canon compliant. Maybe.

David knew he and Race should be walking faster, hurrying to get to The World with Jack to meet Katherine, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. He didn’t really want to see Katherine, no matter what she was doing for them. She’d been lying the whole time and it made his gut twist in the worst way.

What if, instead of double-crossing her father, she was double-crossing them? What if the bulls were waiting for them when they got there?

He glanced over his shoulder and saw the guys from the lodge sleepily assembling and following them down the road.

“C’mon, fellas!” Jack called before taking off in a run. David didn’t hurry after him and neither did Race.

“Y’okay, Davey?” Race asked, hands in his pants pockets and cigar in his vest pocket.

“Does it bother you?” he asked. “Katherine?”

Race snorted and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “Yeah, maybe. But no, too.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

David watched as Race struggled to find the words he wanted to use. He knew what it was like to have so much to say but no way to get it across properly. Because of that, he was willing to wait.

“She’s helpin’. Guess it don’t matter what’er name is,” Race said finally.

“You don’t think she’s settin’ us up?” David asked quietly. He didn’t want to risk his voice carrying all the way to Jack or back to the kids who were growing rowdier and more excited a block or so behind them. “You don’t think she’s on their side?”

His companion considered it. “Nah,” he answered. “I mean, why write the article if she was just gonna stab us in the back?”

“You notice she didn’t get hurt at the strike? Not that I wanted her to, of course,” he was quick to amend, “but they didn’t even go near her. D’ya think they knew?”

“Weasel and the Delanceys? Nah. They ain’t got the brains ta’ hold all that inside.”

David laughed and shook his head, his hands shoved into his pockets. “I guess. I’m just … we’ve been fooled before, thinking we were gonna be okay. And now we find out that our only outside ally is the daughter of the guy we’re striking against?”

“Ta’ be fair, Davey, you was an outsider til’ just the other day.”

That gave David pause. He technically _was_ an outsider, a new newsie. Plus, he and Les showed up just before the prices went up. Did the others suspect him the same way he suspected Katherine? Did he even really suspect Katherine? His mother had always called him “overly cautious”; perhaps his slight doubt was just a product of that.

“Quit thinkin’ so hard. They’s gonna call the fire squad.”

Race’s comment pulled him out of his thoughts and David could only laugh and shove his friend. “Shuddup. D’you … d’you think the guys think I’m with Pulitzer? Since I showed up so late?”

Race scoffed and shoved David in return. “Are ya’ stupid? They thinks youse some kinda genius. We gets screwed and you show up and figure out what we gotta do ta’ fix it. Ain’t nobody thinks you’re with Weasel an’em.”

Letting out a long breath, David nodded. “Good.”

“Heya, Davey! Whatdda’ we do now?” Finch called out from a few yards back. “Looks like Jack already went in.”

David nodded and paused, looking around. “Just … just block the view from anybody who could be out. Bums, ladies, you know the type. Make sure they can’t see anything on the building. Race’ll come get you guys when we’re ready. If the bulls come, run. As fast and as far as you can.” He paused and looked over at Spot. “Get them out of here if it comes to that.”

Spot stopped beside David and put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t boss me around, Mouth.” His face was stoic for a minute before he cracked a smile. “I’ll take care-a’ yer’ newisies.”

“They ain’t mine,” David denied but Spot just turned around and headed to address the assembled newsies, telling them the plan that David had told Finch.

“Hey, Davey, we better get inside. Looks like we’re goin’ in through the window,” Race said as he pointed. “Ya’ ready?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “Let’s go get this done.”

The two headed for the window, Race sliding in first and David following after, bounding a little as his pant leg caught on the sill. “Damnit.”

“ _Language_ , Davey. There’s impressionable kids about.”

Laughing, David shook his head. “Hurry up. We won’t have much time and I’m sure the press isn’t in working condition.” He nudged Race to start walking but grabbed him a second later as two well-dressed men followed Katherine to the stairs. “Who …?”

“No time. Lessgo.”

Race shot ahead, pushing past Jack and heading towards the stairs as well. David stopped, leaning against the railing beside Jack and whistling when Katherine turned the lights on, illuminating the cellar.

“Hey. You bring enough fellas ta’ keep us covered?”

David looked at Jack and smiled, his excitement growing despite the small pit still in his stomach. “We could hold a hoe down in here and no one would be the wiser.”

“Alright. Good job.”

They headed for the stairs, ready to get to work. They were losing the cover of night and needed to get the paper printing, and fast, so they had enough time to get it circulated throughout the city. But first …

“Hey. It’s good to have you back again.”

Jack paused on the stairs, not bothering to fully look up at him, before he scoffed a “Shaddup” and continued down towards Katherine and the others.

David followed, a small smile on his face.

He headed to the other side of the room with Race, his eyes sliding over the men who were standing by the press. They looked rich, Katherine’s level of rich, but he pushed the thought out of his mind. If they were here, they wanted to help. He repeated that to himself over and over again, with much more gusto when Katherine introduced them.

He was suddenly glad he had Race beside him for fear he might fall over. Or run in panic.

David was nervous as he explained his plan, his eyes decidedly not on the sons and daughter of the richest, most powerful men in New York; he didn’t want them to know that he doubted them. Jack and Race didn’t seem to have any reservations, though, and he figured if they didn’t, he could push his away too. There were more important things to worry about.

\--

Later that night, after the victory and the celebration, not to mention a full day of work, David sat alone outside of Jacobi’s. Les was inside holding court, calling out each of the fellas in turn for not coming to their apartment and waking him up so he could pass out the Banners too. He’d convinced a few of the kids to promise they wouldn’t ever leave him out again.

“You look like you could use someone to talk to.”

David looked up and saw Katherine standing in the doorway, a small smile on her lips. “Maybe,” he answered. “Yes.”

He stood from the box he’d been sitting on and dusted it off with his hat before nodding for her to take the seat. She did, sitting a little less primly than he’d expected her to. “So, what’s on your mind?”

“You,” he answered honestly. “And the whole … situation. With your father.”

“Ahh,” she replied, though she didn’t say anything more. It kind of bothered him, if he was honest with himself. She knew something didn’t sit right with him but she had nothing to say for herself? He was about to say something when she finally continued. “I had to keep it to myself.”

“Why?” he shot back automatically.

“Because you wouldn’t have let me help if I didn’t!”

“Oh, because you were so concerned about us kids? I don’t think that was it.” He wiped at his nose. “Because you knew I didn’t trust you in the first place and that I wouldn’t let you have the story if you told us. That’s why.”

“Was I wrong?” she asked loudly.

David knew they were probably drawing some attention from inside but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “No, of course you weren’t. There was no way I woulda let you near those kids if I knew who you were.”

“Exactly! And you wouldn’t have let me near Jack either. And I needed all of them, all of you. And, if you may recall, you needed me too!”

He wanted to fight against that, tell her they would have found another reporter or another way to win, but he knew it wasn’t true. Katherine had been invaluable, Pulitzer or not. Sighing, he ran his tongue between his lips and turned away. He needed a moment to gather his thoughts and he was grateful she allowed him to have it.

“You’re right,” David conceded. “We needed you just as much as you needed us.” He removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he did so. “I’m sorry. It’s just …”

“I get it,” she said quietly, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze. “I can’t say that I would have had a different reaction if our roles were reversed.”

David gave her a small smile and a nod. “Okay. Good. So … we’re … we’re okay?”

Katherine’s smile was dazzling and he suddenly saw what Jack saw. “Of course we are.” They spent a moment in a comfortable silence before Katherine pushed herself up and held out her hand. “Now … how about you buy a girl a drink?”

David laughed and took it. “One water coming right up,” he agreed, pulling the door open and following Katherine in.

He was glad for the resolution. And, as he watched Jack light up at Katherine’s return, he was glad for Katherine in general. Jack was staying, they’d won the strike and he had some great new friends.

He was pretty sure things were finally starting to look up.

 

 


End file.
